Putin Says Nuclear War Risk Increasing as Missiles Hit Russia

This week, multiple military installations in Russian territory were hit by strikes, with Moscow saying Ukraine carried out the attacks, while Ukraine offering no comment on the matter. This has fueled concerns regarding the rising risk of nuclear war or disaster as the situation in the Russian-Ukrainian war further escalates.

This comes as according to the Russian Defense Ministry, strikes were carried out on two Russian air bases inside Russia on Monday, which was then followed by an attack on a Russian air field the next day.

Russia claims that the air strikes were carried out by Ukrainian drones, to which Ukraine offered no comment.

However, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted a cryptic tweet following the strikes inside Russia, possibly hinting that Ukraine was behind the attacks within Russia.

“The Earth is round – discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers. If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point,” Podolyak tweeted.

Following the attack, the West are divided on whether the Ukraine attack on Russian territory was warranted, as the situation may be further escalated by the actions, possibly dragging other countries in the war.

The BBC reported that German government spokesman Steffen Hebeestreit said Ukraine’s defense is not limited to their own territory.

Meanwhile, the United States said that it is not encouraging Ukraine to conduct such actions.

“We are not enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders; we are not encouraging Ukraine to strike beyond its borders,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

However, the US also said that it is still up to Kyiv to decide on how to utilize the weapons it has been receiving from the West.

Nuclear war risk increasing

Following the attacks, Russian president Vladimir Putin, speaking with the Russian presidential human rights council, warned that there is a growing threat of a nuclear war, and views the Russian nuclear arsenal as a means of deterrence rather than to be used for provocation.

Moreover, Putin also said that Russia fully understands what nuclear weapons are and that Russia is not going to “brandish those weapons like a razor running around the world.”

However, Putin in his video conference with his human rights council did not rule out striking first with nuclear weapons, despite noting that Russia’s nuclear doctrine is that of defense.

The risk of nuclear disaster in the war

Nuclear disasters in the war may come from two scenarios–either from the usage of nuclear warheads, or a disaster at nuclear power plants in Ukraine, such as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP).

The Director of the Energy Program of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future Andrian Prokip said in an article published on Winston Center said that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant poses two risks, “nuclear disaster and the spreading of radioactive materials,” Prokip said.

“Any NPP needs a sustained electricity supply to maintain its cooling operations. Zaporizhzhia NPP was connected to Ukraine’s grid with five high-voltage lines. Three were damaged earlier and do not operate now, and two others were under attack a few times, leaving the station cut off. If NPP works in autonomous mode, powering itself with nuclear unit operation or using autonomous diesel generators, under conditions when maintenance cannot be done in a proper manner and without access from the Ukrainian side, the risk of a nuclear disaster, like at Fukushima in 2011, is very high,” Prokip added.

Meanwhile, Russia has installed multiple rocket launchers at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, according to a claim by Ukrainian officials Thursday.

If Ukraine’s claim is verified to be true, the nuclear power plant may be used as a base for firing on Ukrainian forces, which will also increase the risk of radiation dangers, as Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom said in a statement that Russia installed the multiple rocket launchers near one of the six nuclear reactors in the power plant.

Energoatom added that this violates every condition for nuclear and radiation safety. (GFB)